<figure id="attachment_463034" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463034" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="67ea4180"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/5290eda1c94027ff8252bdb5106b4d44.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463034" class="wp-caption-text">Since his retirement press conference last December, former President Tanaka had been out of the public eye. He was well-dressed but looked a little thin.</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Concerns about outflow of funds to Korea</h3>
<p> More than three weeks have passed since the dissolution of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (former Unification Church) was ordered. The church has filed a special appeal against the order, and liquidation procedures are underway, including on-site inspections of some 450 facilities related to the church nationwide by a team of liquidators appointed by the court and led by attorney Hisashi Ito.</p>
<p> The symbolic facility of the cult was the Japan headquarters building (second photo) in Shoto, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and when we visited the &#8220;800 million yen headquarters building&#8221; in one of Tokyo&#8217;s most exclusive residential areas in late March, we found the entrance shuttered. The building was eerily quiet, with a &#8220;notice&#8221; posted stating, &#8220;No one is allowed to enter this facility without the liquidator&#8217;s permission.</p>
<p> The Tokyo High Court decision indicated that the church&#8217;s assets totaled 104 billion yen. The liquidators will investigate the vast amount of real estate in order to secure funds to compensate the victims.</p>
<p> The second most valuable property in central Tokyo after the headquarters is the Tokyo Compatriots Family Church. The five-story building, completed in 1987, is a 10-minute walk from Shinjuku Station and has a total floor space of over 1,300 square meters. Its asset value is no less than 500 million yen.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> The building houses the UPF (United for Peace in the Firmament), the Council of Ambassadors for Peace, and other important organizations that work with local governments and politicians to realize the mission of the church, making it a political base, so to speak. Therefore, until the building is sold in accordance with the liquidation process, the groups can continue their activities here,&#8221; said a journalist familiar with the situation of the church.</span></p>
<p> There are many other buildings and structures in the Tokyo metropolitan area that bear the name of the mission, including Ki-en Family Church, a 30-year-old three-story building with a property value of more than 300 million yen, and Isshin Special Education Institute, which is located near Maihama Station, the same station as Tokyo Disneyland, and is said to have produced &#8220;holy salt&#8221; used in ceremonies and other events.</p>
<p> One of the most unique buildings in the Tokyo metropolitan area is a land plot of about 1,900 tsubo (about 1,900 m2) located in Tama City, Tokyo. When the author visited the site when it was acquired in April 2010, there were signs warning against religious cults, but the planned construction of a training facility was never realized. When we visited the site for the first time in four years, we found the land had been cleared and overgrown with grass and trees.</p>
<p> While the investigation of the real estate assets is progressing, the concern is the whereabouts of the vast amount of cash and deposits of approximately 66.8 billion yen, which account for more than 60% of the assets of the organization. The concern remains that the money may be forced to flee the country before it can be monitored through the liquidation process.</p>
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<p> The most obvious destination is the home country of South Korea. In the five years from FY 2006 to FY 2010 alone, funds remitted from Japan to foreign countries totaled more than 65 billion yen, 90% of which went to South Korea. There is concern that funds will continue to escape to the home country under various names. In addition to official remittances, &#8220;black market donations&#8221; of less than 1 million yen in cash, which do not need to be declared at customs and are brought directly to South Korea by believers, are also rampant, making it extremely difficult to stop the outflow of funds.</p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" We directly interviewed former Chairman Tomihiro Tanaka about asset withdrawal."></div>
<h3>Then I decline.&#8221;</h3>
<p> Another concern is the fate of the &#8220;residual assets&#8221; that will remain after the repayment of the debt. In 2009, when a series of lawsuits were filed against affiliated companies, the organization designated a religious corporation in Obihiro City, Hokkaido, &#8220;Tenchi Shokyo&#8221; as the destination for the remaining assets.</p>
<p> The organization was established in 1987, but a few years later it came to believe in the cult&#8217;s founder, Moon Myung Moon, as Maitreya Bodhisattva, and has since been regarded as a substantial umbrella organization. Yasuo Kawai, the secretary-general of the National Unification Church Lawyers Association, points out the risk of the assets of the cult being leaked.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> In the liquidation process, there is a difficult balance between speeding up the relief process and maximizing the scope of relief,&#8221; he said. Considering the aging of the victims, it is desirable to provide repayment as soon as possible, but if the procedures are hastily completed, the potential victims and active believers who have not yet voiced their opinions may be cut off from relief.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> If this happens, the vast amount of surplus assets that should have been allocated for victim relief will be transferred to Tenchi Orthodox Church, which may become a breeding ground for the same kind of damage (as the former Unification Church). Even if the dissolution order is issued, we must avoid a situation where similar damage is caused by affiliated organizations.</span></p>
<p> Will the organization comply with the liquidation proceedings in good faith and without hiding its funds? We directly interviewed former President Tomihiro Tanaka, who served as the head of the Japan Headquarters for five years until last December and knows the organization better than anyone else.</p>
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<p> &#8211;He is suspected of hiding assets in the liquidation proceedings. &#8230;&#8230;</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> He said, &#8220;Are you interviewing me? Then I decline.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> &#8211;What do you think about the responsibility of the church?</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> I won&#8217;t be interviewed.&#8221;</span></p>
<p> After saying this, he walked quickly away.</p>
<p> The dissolution of the church in an unprecedented civil action. The end of the liquidation drama is still uncertain.</p>
<p> From the April 10, 2026 issue of FRIDAY</p>
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<h3> Assets in excess of 100 million yen, led by the headquarters <br>
Major properties owned by the former Unification Church in the Tokyo metropolitan area</h3>
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<figure id="attachment_463035" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463035" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9af8ed91"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/1791d7b35e3441eda6f3476afbd30fbd.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463035" class="wp-caption-text"> Japan Headquarters building (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo). The base of the faith in Japan stands on a site of 146 tsubo. The land alone is worth at least 840 million yen.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463036" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463036" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="306378dd"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/c02d26726b13396cc2d306fb0ed184db.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463036" class="wp-caption-text"> Kien Family Church (Suginami-ku, Tokyo): A three-story church stands on a site of over 120 tsubo. The estimated value of the property is about 300 million yen. It used to be a meeting place for Nisei believers.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463037" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463037" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="07ccb24a"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/a01a6d5f24383f24d9c8993574a0ff5e.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463037" class="wp-caption-text"> Tokyo Compatriots Family Church (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo). The property value of the church&#8217;s political base is estimated at 400 million yen for the land alone. The building houses a number of influential organizations related to the church.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463038" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463038" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="cf4b52bf"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/f4dd8dce37111faa2cd9193ea449b760.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463038" class="wp-caption-text"> Chiba Central Training Center (Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture). A five-story training center on the outskirts of Chiba City.&#8217; Since its opening in 1990, it has been used mainly as a place of education for believers in the prefecture.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463039" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463039" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="568a4276"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/60232277e6255333a94b094b15acdfbc.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463039" class="wp-caption-text"> Isshin Special Education Institute (Urayasu City, Chiba Prefecture), built on a spacious site with an estimated value of no less than 500 million yen. It is believed to have been used for the production of &#8220;holy salt.</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_463040" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-463040" style="width: 2500px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="1d3fa744"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/04/c678281ea21a2ddb2bb53407073210a1.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-463040" class="wp-caption-text"> 1,900 tsubo of land in Tama City, Tokyo. The estimated value of the land is over 670 million yen. No concrete plans for the use of the land appear to have been made since the construction of a training facility was halted.</figcaption></figure>


 Hironori Jinno

 Takayuki Ogawauchi (Mr. Tanaka), Hiroyuki Komatsu

 More than three weeks have passed since the decision was made to order the dissolution of the former Unification Church. Procedures are still ongoing, but how will the "speed of relief" and "maximization of the scope of relief" be achieved? We directly interviewed Mr. Tomihiro Tanaka, a former member of the association, who is expected to be familiar with the inner workings of the church.

66.8 billion yen in deposits&#8221; and numerous real estate properties&#8230; Where will the &#8220;massive assets&#8221; of the former Unification Church disappear to after the decision to dissolve the church?

66.8 billion yen in deposits” and numerous real estate properties… Where will the “massive assets” of the former Unification Church disappear to after the decision to dissolve the church?

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